Puppy Love
by Mercstouch
Summary: After the events in Miami, Alice wants to learn how to use a firearm, and figures the guys would be the perfect mentors. Alice/Elliot


Alice Murray stepped into the elevator, flipping through the thick pile of papers and manilla folders stacked in her arms. Pivoting back around, she pressed her thumb against one of the white plastic buttons, and went back to clawing her cleanly filed nails across the documents, the silver elevator doors sliding back into place. Her stomach lurched slightly at the downward movement, and within a few seconds the doors reopened at the first sub-level floor. She stepped out and made a left down the vacant hall, her black ballet flats tapping quietly against the light beige tile floor. Taking another left, she entered Rios' office. It was a spacious room, painted a plain off-white and cluttered in the corners with unpacked cardboard boxes, which were mostly filled with office supplies and more of the seemingly endless amount of paperwork that needed to be filled out and filed. She approached the wooden desk toward the back of the room, where Rios sat back in his chair, flipping through a gray folder stuffed with multicolored documents.

"Relax," she said, noticing his slight grimace as she dumped the stack she held onto his desk. "These are just some intel I managed to salvage from SSC storage. There's a lot of contacts for weapons dealers. Figured it could be useful. There's also a few resumes I already looked through and sorted. I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of hiring this new girl, Karla, for one of the mission coordinator positions. She checks out and to be honest I need another set of hands right now."

"That's fine, Murray," he grumbled, tossing the folder down, and rubbing his tired eyes. "And thanks."

"Looks like you could use another set of hands, too," she added lightheartedly. "I guess Salem's busy doing his own paperwork."

Rios chuckled. "No no, I'm working on his right now. Got about half of it done."

"Then what's he doing?"

"Putting a desk together in his office."

"Ah," she nodded.

"I figured it'd be easier to just do it myself than to have him fuck it up and try to fix everything. You know how he is."

Alice shrugged, finding the comment a bit harsh. But then again, if anyone knew Salem, it was Rios. And, thinking about it, she doubted she would have trusted him to fill out any important documentation while they were employed at SSC. "Look, Tyson? I know you're busy, really I get that, but I was wondering, if later you had the time, maybe you could..."

"Yeah?"

"Teach me to shoot."

Rios paused in the midst of picking up another folder, a smile playing across his lips. "Shoot?"

"Yeah."

"You mean...with a gun."

She cocked an eyebrow, giving him a knowing look as she crossed her arms. "Well?"

"Sorry," he laughed, scratching the back of his bald head. "It's just... No offense, Murray, but you just don't seem like the gun toting type. What even brought this up?"

"What brought this up?" she scoffed. "Being tied up, beaten, and shot at in Miami comes to mind. Look, I just... That was honestly the most terrified I've ever been in my life, and if you guys hadn't showed up... I just don't want be defenseless if something like that happened again."

"I highly doubt it would."

"No offense, Rios, but that doesn't reassure me at all. That's what I told myself working at SSC. I just thought it would do me good to learn, and who better to learn from than one of the best private contractors I know?"

Rios sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "I would, but like you said, I'm busy. I'm gonna have to pull an all-nighter to get this stack done for Cha Min Soo by tomorrow. Why don't you just ask Salem?"

"You know why."

"Oh come on, Murray. I know he can be a pain in the ass, but what he's goin' through right now's just puppy love, and like a puppy all you got to do is say no to him. Or smack him with a newspaper."

"How long have I been working with you two?"

"About thirteen years."

"Yeah. That's thirteen years I've dealt with his cheap pickup lines."

Rios pinched the bridge of his nose, shrugging. "I don't know what to tell you. It's gonna be awhile before I get any free time, so if you wanna learn fast, Elliot's your only option."

Alice threw back her head in defeat, and turned to leave. "Fine. I'll ask him."

"He's not incapable, Murray," Rios added, causing her to stop in the doorframe. "After all, he is the one that carried you out of SSC."

Briefly glancing over her shoulder at him, a tinge of remorse shown in her eyes. She knew Salem was anything but incapable, and the thought that Rios saw her objection to him being her firearm instructor as underestimating his abilities filled her with a sense of guilt. She owed Salem, both of them, her life. It was so much more complicated than a simple lack of interest, something she had hoped Salem would have figured out on his own. With a nod, she walked back out into the hall, mentally preparing herself for the next few hours.

Another couple of turns down the chill, subterranean corridors, she found herself at the ajar door of Salem's office, watching deploringly with her hand on her hip as he spun around and around in a black office chair, a wide smile on his face.

"Hey, Alice!" he greeted cheerfully, planting his boots on the carpet to cease his twirling. "Like the new furniture? Put it together myself."

"Impressive," she smirked, eyeing the half-assembled wooden desk laying in pieces behind him. "Look...Elliot, I wanted to ask you if you would-"

"Yes," he blurted, jumping out of his seat.

"But-but you didn't even let me finish!"

"Doesn't matter," he smiled. "I'm game. What do you want me to do?"

Alice scrutinized him, still a bit stunned by his eagerness. "Well, uh." She blinked, clearing her head. "I need you to teach me to shoot a gun. Rios is too busy and seems like he will be for awhile, so..."

"You want me to-to teach you? That...that's great! Wow." He rubbed the back of his neck, a toothy grin plastered to his face. "When?"

"Whenever you're free, I guess."

"Now. It's a date."

"No, it's definitely not a date," she grumbled, massaging her temple. "Listen, Elliot. I just want to be able to load a gun and fire it properly. You try anything, and I'm done. None of the cute stuff-"

"You think I'm cute?"

"That's not what I meant. Just, teach me and that's it, or lesson over. I'll find someone else, you got that?"

"Anything the lady wants," he simpered with a small bow. "It'd be an honor."

"Just..." she sighed, shook her head. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind."


End file.
